Ford has decided not to wait for the results of a NHTSA investigation into the 2001-2004 Escape.

Facing an investigation by NHTSA into work done under a previous callback Ford Motor Co. is now recalling nearly 500,000 of its older Escape SUVs because of a problem that could cause cruise-control cables to snag and lead the vehicle to begin racing out of control.

The recall applies only to V-6-powered versions of the popular Ford compact sport-utility vehicles built between the 2001 and 2004 model-years. But it could add to the embarrassment for the maker which already has had to issue a pair of recalls for the brand new version of the Escape.

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The recall of the older models of the SUV follows word that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would begin an investigation covering both the Escape and the virtually identical Mazda Tribute. In all, the probe targets 730,000 of the vehicles. It appears that not all the Escape models included in the NHTSA action are being recalled, however. The latest recall covers just 485,000 of the Ford utes.

Federal regulators have targeted older Ford Escape models -. such as this 2001 -- and the Mazda Tribute in a new safety investigation.

Just days after the all-new 2013 Ford Escape became the target of a recall federal safety regulators revealed they have begun an investigation into older versions of the compact sport-utility vehicle – as well as the similar Mazda Tribute – due to a potential problem with sticky accelerators.

In all, 730,000 of the two vehicles – produced during the 2001 through 2004 model-years – are targeted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration probe. Only models using V-6 engines are covered.

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Ironically, the problem may have been caused by repairs made during an earlier recall due to an accelerator cable defect. More than 80% of the vehicles covered by the new investigation, about 590,000 in all, had been involved in that earlier safety-related action.

According to the safety agency, it has so far received 99 complaints – 68 of them involving the Ford Escape – and NHTSA says that it so far knows of 13 crashes, nine injuries and one death related to the problem.

Ford now has expanded the F-Series recall to include more than 1.3 million trucks.

Under pressure from federal regulators who had expanded an investigation into a reported airbag problem, Ford Motor Co. now says it will recall another 1.2 million F-Series pickups, increasing more than tenfold a recall first announced in February.

The maker initially planned to recall just 144,000 F-Series trucks produced at its plant in Norfolk. An apparent assembly line problem was blamed for occasional wiring damage that could cause the vehicle’s airbags to fire inadvertently. But government regulators argued that the recall should cover a far broader range of the full-size trucks.

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, meanwhile, has expanded a probe of 1.5 million Ford sport-utility vehicles linked to a defect that could cause them to roll away even though the driver believed the vehicle had been shifted into Park.

“We’re recalling the complete population of (F-Series) trucks built between 2003 – which marked the start of production of the all-new 2004 truck – and 2006, 1.2 million vehicles in the U.S.” explained Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood, following the makers decision to expand the original safety action.